Helm's Deep
by Marblez
Summary: Aaron was only a village boy in Rohan until his village was attacked, then he was a Rohan warrior at the battle of Helm's Deep...


Disclamer: I don't own most of this but I do own Aaron and his family, the rest belongs to that genius going by the name of Tolkien.  
  
Helm's Deep  
  
"Aaron! Aaron where are you!" the panic stricken woman called desperately as the Uruk-hai and hill men charged at the village. Aaron pulled his cream shirt on quickly and then his brown tunic. He tied his belt quickly before grabbing his fathers old sword. He ran to the front door, pulled on his boot's and ran outside. "Aaron, please, help me with the younger ones" his mother pleaded with him, grabbing her son by the shoulders.  
"Mama! I have to go fight!" Aaron said. He'd just turned 14 and in his opinion was old enough and good enough to help the men that were going to challenge the enemy to give the women and children time to escape.  
"No! I won't loose you like I lost your father!" she screamed. Aaron's father had disappeared years ago but a rumour had reached them that he was in the Rohan army. Little Ellen was in Tobi's arms while Joshul dragged a bundle of their things out of their house.  
"Mama I'm scared" Ellen said, tear's starting in her baby blue eyes.  
"Take them and go mama! We shall meet again!" Aaron shouted as he pulled away from his mother and ran at the enemy with some of the other village men.  
"No! Aaron no!" was the last thing Aaron heard from his mother as the enemy reached them. He fought as well as a small 14 year old with a too large sword could against a tall Uruk-hai but then he felt the beast's sword slice into the side of his body deeply. He gasped in shock and fell to the ground, his world going dark.  
  
When he woke he was vaguely aware that someone was carrying him and that a bandage was tightly wrapped around his middle. His vision was blurry, so blurry he could only just make out the outline of the man carrying him.  
"W-W-What happened?" Aaron asked weakly, his voice barely above a whisper.  
"Shhh lad, we're nearly at Helm's Deep. You'll be alright" the man said kindly. Aaron nodded slightly and rested his head on the man's cheast, closing his eyes slowly.  
  
Aaron could feel himself being passed from person to person until he found himself laid on a cot with a woman bent over him, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. She had long blonde hair and a kind face, but behind her was a rough looking man in dirty clothes who was glaring at Aaron slightly.  
  
"Who are...?" Aaron trailed off weakly.  
"Éowyn in my name child and this is Lord Aragorn" Éowyn said as she carefully pulled the bandage away from Aaron's side. "What's your name?"  
"Aaron" Aaron said weakly as Aragorn started examining the cut. It was deep but someone had stitched it together to help healing. Aragorn reached in his pack and brought out some herd's which he instructed Éowyn to crush and apply to the wound. He gently touched Aaron's forehead.  
"The cut is deep, but by the looks of it is healing well. The stitches will need to come out eventually and the herb's should help keep away any infections. At this moment he doesn't seem to have a fever but it could easily come" Aragorn said to Éowyn and she gently applied the herb's before re-bandaging the wound with a clean strip of cloth. A tall soldier with an expression of unhappiness walked up and stood next to Aragorn.  
"King Theodin has ordered that all people able to weald a sword must report to the armoury, does this apply to any here?" he asked formally. Most of the people in the room had broken bones or gashes with fevers. He glanced down at Aaron who looked...fearful.  
"This is the healing hall, it is unlikely any here could stand up without aid" Éowyn snapped at the soldier.  
"But can any weald a sword?" the man asked plainly.  
"Check for yourself, I will have no part in sending wounded men to their deaths" Éowyn snapped walking away from him.  
"Hasn't she ever heard of 'Don't shoot the messenger'?" the soldier asked quietly as he looked at Aaron. He pulled Aaron up by his arm and handed him his sword. Aaron wobbled for few moment's but then managed to do a few simple sword moves as he was instructed. Aragorn watched in mild anger. The soldier took the sword from Aaron sadly.  
"Report to the armoury" he said, moving on to the next man. Aaron took a gulping breath before walking slowly down to the armoury, holding his wounded side tightly. Other boy's, his age or younger, were already there being kitted out. He hadn't noticed Aragorn following him but he walked in after him. Aaron found himself being pulled to the side by a soldier and his tunic was pulled off him. A oversized chain mail suit was placed over his shirt and then his tunic was put over that. He was handed a large helmet as the man grabbed a sword and scabbard from the table and fixed it around his waist.  
"Can you use a bow?" he was asked. He nodded as he used to hunt for food in the village and was handed a bow and a bundle of arrows. "We've run out of quivers" the man said moving onto the next boy. Aragorn was arguing with his elvish companion loudly, but in elvish and then he shouted.  
"Then I shall die as one of them!" before stalking out.  
"Kinda kill's your confidence doesn't it" a boy behind him muttered. Aaron walked shakily out into the keep and picked up someone's forgotten bag from the ground. He put the arrows in it and tied it to his belt so that he could reach them.  
"Good idea" a soldier said to him, patting him on the shoulder before walking over to a fire.  
"Aaron!" someone familiar shouted behind him. Aaron spun around and came face to face with none other than his father.  
"Papa? He asked quietly. "Papa!" he cried, throwing himself into his father's arms. It appeared that the rumours had been true as his father wore a Rohan uniform. He was held tightly in his fathers arms, his father stroking his shoulder length blonde hair gently. But the moment couldn't last as the shout came for everyone to go to their positions. His father kissed him gently on the forehead before heading down to his post at the gate while Aaron was taken to his post on the outer wall.  
  
Aaron breathed shakily as the enemy advanced on Helm's deep. His bow was ready, arrow knotched and string pulled tight.  
"Well, it can't exactly get any worse" a boy slightly older than him said quietly, looking at the army. Just then it began to rain.  
"You were saying?" Aaron asked angrily. The elves around them hadn't even got their arrows ready yet until Aragorn gave an order in their language. Somewhere an old man fired and arrow and it felled an Uruk-hai. Aragorn told everyone to hold as the Uruk-hai got angry until they finally charged.  
"FIRE!" Aragorn shouted (in elvish I know!) and Aaron let loose his first arrow. He was surprised to see the Uruk-hai he had been aiming at fall to the ground, an arrow in his neck. "Fire at will!" Aaron did so and eventually he ran out of arrows. People around him fell, Uruk-hai arrow's in them. He drew his sword slowly as he saw the Uruk-hai's preparing ladders. He breathed deeply and uttered a silent prayer that he would survive this night.  
  
"Fall back to the keep!" Aaron only just heard the order as he fought alongside some of the elves. The floor was littered with dead bodies and Aaron tripped and fell backwards, landing on the floor. The Uruk-hai he'd been fighting thrust at him but he was dead before he could touch Aaron, an elfs sword in his side. Aaron gasped slightly when he realised it was the leader of the elves that had come to help them.  
"Haldir! Fall back to the keep!" Aragorn shouted from a distance. Haldir nodded and shouted an order in his own tongue while trying to pull Aaron to his feet. Unfortunately his slight lack in concentration meant an Uruk-hai managed to stab him in the side deeply. Haldir gasped and Aaron roughly stabbed the Uruk-hai. Unfortunately even though he killed that one another one snuck up behind them, bringing his sword down on the back of Haldir's head. Aaron spun and stabbed the Uruk-hai in the stomach. Aragorn ran up just in time to catch Haldir as his life left him.  
"I'm sorry" Aaron whispered. Aragorn looked at him before he ran at another Uruk-hai. Aaron scrambled up and turned to run towards to keep, only to find allot of Uruk-hai in the way. Aragorn growled as he jumped onto a ladder to get away from all the Uruk-hai but Aaron was trapped. Aragorn signalled for him to follow him. Aaron jumped off the wall as carefully as he could but he still jarred his ankle when he landed. Aragorn grabbed his arm and pulled him up the steps, the Uruk-hai chasing after them. The door shut just behind them, blocking the Uruk-hai's out. Aaron collapsed to the floor with a sob, his hands clutching his now throbbing ankle.  
"Stupid, it was so stupid jumping from a wall" he muttered to himself. The other's had all started running to go help in the battle but one gently picked Aaron up and carried him inside the main castle.  
  
Aaron sat, flinching every now and then as his ankle was bound. It wasn't broken amazingly but it was badly twisted. The doors were giving way slowly even thought the other men worked as hard as they could to barricade them.  
"You able to fight boy?" the man asked when he tied off the bandage. Aaron nodded and limped over to the door, handing the elf, Legolas a bench to wedge up against the door. Suddenly most of the men left and got onto horses but Aaron and 3 others continued struggling with the door but eventually it gave. The Uruk-hai charged in, one slicing at Aaron who raised his hand in reaction so the blade only hit that, but then the horses charged and the Uruk-hai were dead before they knew what hit them. Aaron and the other men ran out of the door after them to kill any they somehow managed to miss.  
  
The battle was over and everyone was coming out of the caves. The surviving warriors were all searching for their families. Aaron sighed and wrapped a piece of cloth around the cut on his hand. He watched mothers and wives run crying to the bodies of their husbands and sons. Aaron realised just how lucky he had been to survive. He lowered his gaze and tightened his boots silently.  
"Aaron!" a little, familiar voice screamed. Aaron looked up just as Joshul threw himself at his eldest brother. Aaron hugged him tightly, noting the redness around his eyes which gave away he'd been crying.  
"Aaron" it was Aaron's mother and soon she joined Joshul, her arms around him and she kissed all over his face. Ellen ran up as fast as her short legs could move and clutched her brother's un-hurt leg tightly.  
"Missed you" she said quietly. Tobi walked up slowly, trying to act the grown up 8 year old, but eventually he gave up and ran at Aaron, throwing his arms around him too. Aaron's mother sobbed into his shoulder and Aaron could feel tears falling down his cheeks. Other people watched the joyous reunion, tears in their own eyes.  
  
The bodies of the dead had been gathered and laid out so that family's could mourn for them. The Uruk-hai's bodies had been piled outside of the wall and burned without a second thought. Everyone was gathering around a huge pyre that had been collected to burn the dead on. Each was gently lifted, named by the King who had been given a list of all to say in a prayer and then laid on the pyre.  
"Papa!" Ellen screamed as Aaron's father was lifted from the ground and laid on the pyre, his name announced by the king. Aaron's mother scooped up her only daughter and held her close, tears of her own falling from her eyes. Aaron picked Joshul up and pulled Tobi against him with his other hand. Once all the dead had been laid out and named, the king finished the prayer and the pyre was lit. Lady Éowyn began to sing the song of mourning and after a line or two all the other women joined in. It lasted for as long at it took the pyre to become totally lit, repeating a couple of times. Aaron felt his own tears falling down his face, Joshul's seeping into his shirt and tunic and Tobi's into his leg. Ellen was wailing as their mother tried to calm her.  
  
Aaron sat alone outside that night while the other's celebrated. He had a mug of beer in his hand because he'd grown up quickly. He was surprised when Aragorn came and sat next to him.  
"You don't need to be sorry" Aragorn said.  
"I don't understand my lord" Aaron said quietly.  
"On the wall, when Haldir died, you told me you were sorry. Do not be" Aragorn said. Aaron lowered his gaze to the floor.  
"He died to protect me" he mumbled, not looking at Aragorn, admitting the horrible feeling of guilt that had been growing inside him. Aragorn put his arm around him gently.  
"He died for what he believed in Aaron, it wasn't your fault. Just be thankful he didn't die for nothing. Elven souls are different to ours, they travel to a grand place where they are met with honour and happiness. They also watch us, to make sure we don't get into too much trouble without them" Aragorn said, tightening his grip. Tobi walked up and sat on Aaron's other side.  
"Mama said to tell you to tell someone that one of the wounded is really sick" Tobi said innocently. Their mother had volunteered to help in the healing wing.  
"Who did she want me to tell?" Aaron asked, aware that Aragorn watched him and his younger brother.  
"Ara-Arago-someone" Tobi said finally.  
"Was it Aragorn little one?" Aragorn asked kindly.  
"That's the one!" Tobi said happily.  
"I'd better go then" he said, giving Aaron a squeeze before he went. Tobi snuggled up to his brother's side and yawned sleepily. He laid down and rested his head on Aaron's leg, going to sleep. Aaron stroked his brother's head gently, finally freeing the guilt from inside him as he gazed up at the clouds.  
"I hope your happy mister Haldir...but you still shouldn't have died" he said quietly to no one really before gently lifting his brother (who was sound asleep) and carried him back to their sleeping area.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
A/N This was just a one off, but I may make a sequel. Because the ending basically says he's in the battles in ROTK. I wrote this because I watched the extended edition and wanted a story that was from the POV of one of the poor boys. 


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